3 Fast Facts About The Acne Vaccine That Doctors Are Developing To Help Eradicate Zits

A nurse prepares a vaccine to be given to a child in a hospital in Beijing, China, April 13, 2016. The Acne Vaccine Project from researchers at the University of California, San Diego aims to help acne sufferers eradicate pimples for good.
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Acne, aka pimples or zits, is one of the most annoying and frustrating skin problems you'll ever encounter. If you're an acne sufferer, then don't lose hope because doctors are currently developing an acne vaccine to finally get rid of pimples once and for all. Read on to learn more about it.

Three Fast Facts About The Vaccine For Pimples That Doctors Are Developing:

1. A group of scientists from the University of California, San Diego are working on the acne vaccine.

Led by researcher Eric C. Huang, the UC San Diego scientists had to figure out a way to create a vaccine against the Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) bacteria, which partly causes acne. However, they couldn't completely wipe it out because it still does some good for the body and is part of a healthy human skin.

"The severity of acne vulgaris is highly associated with the inflammatory response to Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), an opportunistic skin bacterium," Huang said on the UC San Diego School of Medicine's official website. He explained that the Acne Vaccine Project's goal is to educate acne patients' immune system to allow their bodies to control the growth of P. acnes naturally. "The approach has the potential to result in a long term cure of the disease."

2. They discovered that a molecule called the secretory Christie-Atkins-Munch-Peterson (CAMP) factor is the P. acnes' weak link and the one that drives acne.

Huang and his team of scientists discovered that the human body can't neutralize the CAMP factor normally because of antigen masking. Thankfully, the UC San Diego laboratory discovered a way to overcome the CAMP factor dilemma. Preliminary data even shows that this can prevent the inflammation from P. acnes.

"We found an antibody to a toxic protein that P. acnes bacteria secrete on skin — the protein is associated with the inflammation that leads to acne," Allure Magazine reported Huang as saying.

3. It has worked on acne patients' skin biopsies which the researchers previously collected.

Things are looking up for acne sufferers because the propionibacterium acnes vaccine has already worked on human acne tissues. However, the researchers must test it on patients in clinical trials to see if it really works and is really safe to use. "The approach will be translated into use for humans in the very near future," Huang said.

Contrary to popular belief, acne doesn't just go away after adolescence, with some cases even persisting in people already in their 30s. It can even seem like a vicious cycle of spots that leave lasting marks even after the damage to your skin has been done. It's a good thing that a vaccine against it is finally being developed because it can make things easier for people suffering from the skin disease. It could mean lesser creams to use on the face and no more oral medicine in the future, which can also have side effects on the body if used for a long time.

What do you think of the acne vaccine that doctors are currently developing? Do you think the vaccine for pimples could finally be the acne cure that people are waiting for? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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